The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1887-04-16
Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.


Careful experiments on the sense of smell in
dogs have been made by Mr.. Geo. J. Romanes,
who has communicated the results to the Linnean
Society of London. He finds that not only the
feet but the whole body of man exhale peculiar
or individual odor which dog can recognize as
that of his master amidst crowd of other per-
sons that the individual quality of this odor can
be recognized at great distances to windward, or
in calm weather at great distances in any direc-
ton and that even powerful perfumes may not
overcome this odor. Yet single sheet of brown
paper, when stepped upon instead of the ground
and afterwards removed, was sufficient to prevent
Mr.. Romanes dog from following his trail.
DEFoRMED AND COMMUNICATING FISHES.
Among many thousands of newly Matched trout
and salmon examined at the Royal Aquarium at
South Kensington during 1885 and 1856, Mr..
August Carter found case of deformity in
every thousand, and one case of monstrosity-
such as twin and double headed fsh-in every
four thousand. His observations have convinced
him that certain fish, such as the carp and perch,
have the power of communicating with an
other.
WINTER sANITARIUM IN THE ALPS. s.Ia
The Alpine valley of Davos, twenty years ago
almost unheard of, now has winter population
of 5000, nearly half of whom are invalids. The
valley is twenty miles long by half mile wide,
and is so shut in by the mountains that wind is
impossible. The rarefed air is cold, dry and free
from miasmatic impurity, while the days are
mostly clear, with brilliant sunshine and high
range of sun-heat. In this remarkable climate
consumptives derive undoubted benefit. There
are few days when out of door exercise is not
pleasurable and beneficial, even the falls of dry
snow being not uncomfortable. During the day
the sun heat is so great that invaids sit without
extra wraps enjoying the warmth OF the hotel bal
comics, while the shade temperature is far below
freezing point the curious circumstance being
related Of we'll known literary Englishman, that
L. 10 narfa n;uepb so oYh ic hal
cony with cup of coffee beside him, when chanc
ing to stand between the table and the sun for
few moments, he turned to find his coffee mass
of ice Chills are almost unknown on account of
the aEVe6ssSf fpd & tts Bfraft ths
dread of Davos is railroad and over crowding,
with consequent pollution of its aerial elixir of
life.
TUMBLE WEED.
common eastern weed, according to Prof. G.
E. Bessey, is modified by climate on the western
plains and prairies into compact plant, whose
stout, curving branches give it an approximately
spherical form, and which is called "tum be-weed
from the fact that when the stem is broken near
the ground by the autumn gales the upper part
goes rolling and tumbling before the wind, often
for miles. In the East the species, Amarantus
alJMs, is struggling herb remaining rooted long
after its death at the close of the season.
SCIENTIFIC REWARDS. .i -.i -v
The prizes which have been bestowed by the
French Academy of Sciences from a long list, one
of the most important of the number having been
that given few years ago to Prof. Bell for his
work in connection with the telephone. Those
offered for 1887 include 100 900 francs for the dis
covery of an efficient remedy for Asiatic cholera;
10 900 francs each for the best works on physics,
chemistry, and physiology $500 francs for work
ongenersl embryologh; 5000 francs for researches
on the phosphorescence of animals 5000 francs
for a comparative study of the hearing apparatus
in mammals and birds; 5000 francs for COM
parative study of the fresh-water animal life of
Africa, South Asia and Australasia; 1900 francs
for an improvement of the steam engine, or other
invention contributing much to the progress of
steam navigation; 1000 francs for any valuable
therapeutical discovery $500 francs for work on
the distribution of heat over the globes surface;
500 francs for a theoretical and practical study of
progress in aerial navigation since 1880; besides
many others, ranging from a set of Laplace's
works to 1000 francs, for specified work in math-
ematics, astronomy, chemistry, botany, medicine,
mechanics and other sciences, and in aid of scien-
tifc students. Papers are to be handed in before
June 1st.
IcELAND's WOOD.
While the bog-wood of Iceland proves the for
mer existence of extensive growths OF large trees,
the present forests consist chiefly of dwarfed
birches and trees fifteen or twenty feet in height
are said to be rare. The decrease of woodland is
not result fclimatic change volcanic outburst
destruction of trees by the inhabitants themselves
EadYAf u MISCELLANEOUS. ct-t i,
Improved methods of research are bringing to
light many substances which enter into the earth's
composition in very minute proportions. During
the last ten years forty-two new chemical elements
have been discovered, of which eight were found
in 1886. r- 81. ta.- - sfs 81 .s ;.i..I.
The public food-testing laboratory of Paris has
been doing good work in discouraging the sale OF
impure foods and the authorities now find the
need of laboratory for the study of the conta-
gious diseases of animals for the special purpose
Of preventing the sale Of diseased meat, .oa,,,
* 1t is suggested by Buchholtz, of Berlin, that
thepresence of 1eecy rounded cirrus clouds denotes
highly electrical condition of the upper atmos-
phere, a mouthful of cigar smoke being found to
assume aspect when near a charged electrophorus.
The new Reitz alloy, the patented production
of a German chemist, is bronze for which re.
markabe durability and resistance to all acids
are claimed, prolonged exposure to concentrated
muriatic acid having caused less than half the
loss sustained by any other alloy and other tests
having been equally successful. e4-
Drumine is new local anaesthetic, with GER
tain advantages over cocaine, from the Australian
EuDhorbia Drummondi9.